Auburn is nearing the end of its spring drills, and the uptempo pace in practices has lagged recently, which is never a good thing on Gus Malzahn's field.

"The first five days, man, we had great energy," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said after the Tigers' 11th practice of the spring. "I mean, you could tell our guys were flying around. I think we got better. We hit a little bit of a lull probably somewhere two or three practices toward the middle, which is probably normal."

Normal, yes. But is it OK?

No.

Auburn appears to have progressed and moved on from those slow days last week, when "loafs" were more frequent. The Tigers practiced and scrimmaged Saturday, and the No. 1 takeaway was the need to be "more physical," Malzahn said.

"Our standard’s high and so our coaches were very strict on our guys with assignments, with loafs and everything that goes with it," Malzahn said Tuesday. "It gave us some good information and we’re trying to improve."

Whether Auburn conducts a full scrimmage Saturday remains to be seen. Auburn has conducted only one major scrimmage so far, and it did not eclipse 100 plays. It's quite the change from last spring, when Malzahn pushed the Tigers through several long scrimmages as he tried to define roles and find starters during his first year as the head coach.

The second spring under Malzahn has been more about polishing what already works and building depth along the offensive and defensive lines. Auburn is also trying to develop chemistry between its quarterbacks and receivers in an attempt to balance an offense that was comprised mostly of running plays (71.9 percent) in 2013.

Even the Tigers' assistant coaches are not quite sure what to expect Saturday, the final scrimmage day before the Tigers open the doors April 19 for the A-Day game inside Jordan-Hare stadium.

Lashlee, who talked at length about building depth at receiver Thursday, has focused on improving the passing game. He even set a lofty goal for second-year starter Nick Marshall, who he believes should become the fifth quarterback in Auburn history to complete 65 percent of his passes.

"I can’t really tell you yet, although for me these last four or five practices counting [Thursday] I’m looking for high execution in the passing game, vertically down the field, our base stuff," Lashlee said. "We've been getting better all spring. I want us to continue to improve and execute at a high level in the passing game."